Tuesday, February 18, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: City of Stone and Silence by Django Wexler




City of Stone and Silence is the 2nd book in Django Wexler's young adult fantasy "Wells of Sorcery" trilogy, which began last year with Ship of Smoke and Steel (Reviewed Here).  I liked that book a lot, due to Isoka, its strong morally grey - and often pragmatically ruthless - heroine, as well as its dark setting and satisfying ending.  The book had a few cliche tropes thrown in as well that made it somewhat predictable, but it was executed really well, so I was interested to see where the book would take Isoka from where it left off.

And yet, City of Stone and Silence surprised me tremendously in how it upped the ante from an already strong first novel, in completely different ways than I expected.  The book doesn't only continue Isoka's story, but splits its narrative, with half of the story now devoted to Isoka's 14 year old sister Tori, whose narrative forms a strong and compelling contrast with that of her sister's arc.  The result is a dark YA fantasy that is a hell of a read, and I cannot wait for the finale.


----------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------
Isoka Deepwalker was blackmailed into trying to take control of the Ghost Ship Soliton by Kuon Naga, the Imperial Spymaster, and given a deadline: return with control of Soliton within one year, or her sister Tori will perish.  Isoka has found more than she could have imagined upon Soliton - Meroe, a woman she's in love with, the magic power of Eddica - the well of souls - and a leadership position she has no clue what to do with.  But she's no closer to controlling Soliton than before, and when the ship docks at a strange harbor under a magical dome, she'll find herself, Meroe, and the remaining survivors faced with a new threat - a horde of undead monsters controlled by another Eddica wielder who is utterly mad....

But while Isoka desperately tries to gain control of the ship and return to Kahnzoka, her sister Tori isn't living the charmed well-off life Isoka believes she is.  Now 13 going on 14, Tori has never forgotten the slums she came from, and has secretly been sneaking off to a lower class neighborhood to help an organization that cares for the lower classes....and acts as a secret sanctuary for mage-born children and adults looking to hide from the Imperial watchdogs.  But Tori has a bigger secret: she also is mage born and can access Kindre, the Well of Mind, which allows her to read intentions....and alter others' minds.  Tori finds her own power to be monstrous and tries to limit its use, but as the situation in Kahnzoka turns deadly, with all out class war between the poor and the Imperial soldiers erupting, she will find herself relying upon it more and more, as it may take a monster to survive and to save the people who deserve it......
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City of Stone and Silence is not a long book, and unlike is predecessor, it splits its narrative into two: every other chapter alternates between telling Isoka and Tori's stories.  This means naturally, that each story is half as long as the story was in the last book, something that could easily have resulted in both narratives feeling short and insubstantial.  And yet that is absolutely not the case here - while Isoka's narrative certainly feels short, it packs a lot into its short page time, and Tori's narrative is an utter wallop.

Both Tori and Isoka are terrific characters to lead us in these narratives.  Isoka now is having to deal with the fact that the remaining crew of Soliton now looks at her as a leader, and her not knowing what to do with a role she's never wanted, where people's lives depend on her - despite all Isoka wanting to care about being Tori and Meroe.  Tori meanwhile has always felt an obligation to help others - who didn't have Isoka to care for them like Tori did - but feels monstrous about using her mind invading power to do it.  And whereas Isoka had to deal with figuring out her feelings for Meroe in the last book, Tori gets a similar love interest in this book, a privileged boy who wants to help but cannot possibly understand the despair of the lower wards.

In fact, what's fascinating about Tori's narrative is how much it contrasts with Isoka's from the first book and to a smaller extent, here in the second book.  Tori isn't the pure innocent soul Isoka believes - no one growing up in that fashion could have been, and certainly not with Tori having the ability to partially read minds - but she is a contrast in that unlike her sister, Tori always wanted to do good for others.  But whereas Meroe and circumstances push Isoka into becoming a more caring about others person, using her skills for good ends, the circumstances Tori finds herself in result in Tori having to become more ruthless with her power, just like Isoka was.  Tori's arc winds up taking her to some dark places, and despite Tori starting off as a "better" person than Isoka, her arc winds up becoming a twisted reflection of Isoka's, which is stunning to read, with even the way her potential romance goes being a subversion of what you'd think, and of what went on with Isoka and Meroe.

ROT13 Spoilers for further details on this:    Guvf vf creuncf orfg rkrzcyvsvrq ol gur pbagenfg va Gbev naq Vfbxn'f ybir vagrerfgf.  Obgu Vfbxn naq Gbev unir "nevfgbf" - hccre pynff aboyrf - nf gurve ybir vagrerfgf, jvgu Zrebr orvat gung bs Vfbxn naq Tneb orvat gur bar vagebqhprq urer sbe Gbev.  Ohg Zrebr, cebonoyl qhr gb ure orvat bfgenpvmrq ol ure snzvyl sbe univat na vagrerfg va jbzra naq bs pbhefr ure univat gb uvqr ure Tuhy gnyrag, xabjf fur qbrfa'g xabj rirelguvat naq fgevirf gb chg nfvqr ure aboyr cerwhqvprf, naq yrneaf gb gnyx va gur fnzr ynathntr nf gur erfg bs Fbyvgba va beqre gb uryc yrnq naq thvqr gurz.  Ol pbagenfg, juvyr Gbev fubjf Tneb nyy bs gur gehgu oruvaq gur zvfrel va gur fyhzf naq ubj oyvaq ur vf va uvf cevivyrtr, Tneb pnaabg funxr bss gur haqrecvaavatf bs uvf cevivyrtr naq frr jung znggref - fhoiregvat gur pynffvp gebcr bs n cevivyrtrq obl yrneavat qnex gehguf naq svtugvat sbe jung znggref.  Naq fb gurve eryngvbafuvc raqf urer jvgu Gbev yvgrenyyl fubivat uvz bhg n jvaqbj, gb gnxr punetr ba ure bja gb gel naq fnir crbcyr hfvat ure qnex cbjref....cbjref Gbev hfrf gb pbageby na vaabprag snzvyl vagb freivat nf onvg naq oheavat qbja na ragver fyhz gb fnir ure bja nyyvrf....npgf Vfbxn zvtug unir pbafvqrerq orsber Zrebr, ohg jbhyq abg ng guvf cbvag.

Honestly, Isoka's narrative here can't help but pale in comparison with Tori's, since it lacks as much emotional meat (with much of that work being done in the last novel).  It's perhaps a bit of a time sink, stalling things to keep us with Isoka a bit while setting up Tori for the pair's probable reunion in the final book.  Still there's still further character development there, some interesting developments in how things work with Eddica, and the action scenes remain top notch.  So it's hard to complain.

In short, City of Stone and Silence does what I hope every 2nd book in a trilogy could do: expands the world in interesting surprising ways, adds interesting characters and doesn't rest upon the wonders created in the first book, and moves everything forward towards a conclusion.  I can't wait for that conclusion to come.
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